Food waste is a big issue in the UK. The average household throws away £470 worth of food every year. And at the same time 4 million people in the UK are living in food poverty.The Community Fridge is a simple response.You can drop off good but unwanted food, and anyone can help themselves to what is on the shelf. The fridge is for retail businesses, restaurants and individual people to share perfectly good food that is edible and would otherwise go to waste. The operators of this Fridge (Edventure Frome CIC) will make sure that the fridge is a safe environment for food sharing. Edventure Frome CIC cannot take responsibility for the condition of the contents of this fridge. Everyone who puts food into this fridge is responsible for the safety of this food and will follow the guidelines provided. By taking food from the community fridge you commit to making your own judgement as to whether or not the contents you take are suitable for your own use. Click on the headings below to find out more.

The community fridge needs your support

Our fridge is run by and for the community in Frome – and we need support to make it work, cover our basic monthly running costs of £250 (rent, electrics & volunteer coordination), and grow the movement of community fridges in the UK.

Make a monthly donation

You can become an advocate of tackling food waste in Frome and a ‘friend of the fridge’ with a monthly donation of £2.50, £4.50, £7.50/ month or £20/month for business sponsors or people who really love the idea We will give you a “friend of the fridge badge” and sticker (to be picked up at the Welsh Mill Hub). You can set up a direct debit via Go Cardless, which you can cancel anytime. Just click on the amount you want to donate above.

Make a one-off donation

Help us grow community fridges in Frome and beyond with a one-off donation via Paypal.

Volunteer

Place food safely on the right shelf- ready to eat foods in the top half and salad, fruit and veg in the bottom half.

Only donate food before it reaches the “Use-by date”

I donate food because I cannot or don’t want to sell it, not because it is not good quality anymore.

Only donate food that is good for at least 24 more hours.

Log my donation in the visitors book inside the fridge stating my donation, my name (and business if appropriate), the date it was prepared and the use-by (in-conjunction with food hygiene standards)

Not donate raw meat, eggs, fish or opened milk to the fridge

I understand that I may be liable if I cause any harm by not complying to this disclaimer

Only donate food I have cooked or prepared if I am part of a food business and have a health and hygiene certificate and the food has been cooked/prepared in a certified kitchen and complies with England’s Health and Hygiene standards

The following only applies to businesses donating cooked or prepared food:

Label any food that has not got a “Use-by date” (i.e., surplus cooked food, bread), stating what it is, donator’s name and / or business, when it was donated and when it has to be used by, and whether it is safe to reheat. I will also package the food appropriately to avoid contamination.

Make sure that any previously heated food is cooled down quickly (down to 5oC within 90 mintues)

The food I donate has been cooled as quickly as possible (no more than 90 minutes) after cooking (to above 75C) or after preparation if the food has not been heated- to a temperature 8oC or lower if the food needs refrigeration.

Location & story of the community fridge

The story

In partnership with Frome Town Council, Edventure: Frome – a school for community enterprise – challenged its students to help tackle the problem of Food Waste in Frome. A team of 10 students organised pop-up events feeding over 200 people from gleaned and surplus food, ran a workshop at Frome Community college and began looking into the logistics of setting up a Community Fridge – inspired by other similar projects from around the world. Edventure: Frome and Frome Town Council have then supported Project Coordinator Esther Deeks to take this project to fruition. This community fridge is the first of its kind in the UK and a pilot project. We always welcome feedback and ideas.

Visit the Community Fridge

The community fridge is located in the colourful Loop de Loop cafe near the main car park of Frome. The fridge is open from 8am-8pm.

Set up a community fridge in your town, hub or centre

We have invested quite a lot of time on figuring out how a community fridge could work in the UK. We are sharing our resources to save others the time and enable us to raise funds to continue our work. To preview the resource pack welcome document click here. To access the download links for the documents, please fill in & submit the form below – the information will be send to you by email. We are asking for a donation via PayPal (you can choose the amount, we suggest a minimum of £25 for community groups and £50 for social enterprises or local authorities). If you don’t want to leave a donation, click ‘Submit Form without donation’.

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OUR COMMUNITY FRIDGE RESOURCE PACK INCLUDES:

Frequently Asked Questions to explain how the community fridge works in Frome

Logo & other branding elements to be modified for your local context. The logo also comes in different colour schemes.

Food Hygiene processes to explain how we run the fridge guided by the Food Standards Agency.

Flyers & press-releases to help you launch the fridge.

Disclaimers and notices on Google Docs, so that they can be easily adapted to your context.

A risk assessment & brief for your insurance, so that you can run the project by your local environmental health officer and insurer.

Volunteer training documents to professionally induct your volunteers or staff who are looking after the fridge.

Please note that this is not a franchise. We are simply sharing our resources and you are fully responsible for making your community fridge legal and safe.

A big thank you to our sponsors

A Frome-based project, the Ethical Revolution newsletter and website highlight deals and offers on ethical products and services to help us choose ethical produce over less-ethical alternatives at no extra cost …and often at cheaper prices.

Since 1998, The Blackford Centre has been offering home-study courses for people who want to change direction and get a new career. They specialise in courses that help people start their own businesses.

Sponsor the Community Fridge

Your business can sponsor the fridghe for £20/month. We will give you a “friend of the fridge badge” and sticker on the fridge.